


Suspicion

by Whiterabbit11



Series: These new times [4]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Fluff, I'm hopeless, M/M, Next Gen, SO MUCH FLUFF, Tea, Teenagers, you know me
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-18
Updated: 2016-03-18
Packaged: 2018-05-27 11:29:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,459
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6282826
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Whiterabbit11/pseuds/Whiterabbit11
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Frank asks himself if he's lost his tiny mind.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Suspicion

**Author's Note:**

> There's a lovely video where the HP cast sum up their 10 years on the movies in one word. Rupert said 'phenomenal'. Emma said 'magical'. Matt Lewis' word was 'alright'. :D

Despite Narcissa’s best attempts, the small talk dried up. Lucius remained silent, glowering at the interloper at the tea table. The boy quaked a little, carefully putting his cup back on the delicate saucer. The china was almost translucent, vulnerable against his clumsy teenage hands. This was going to be the part he would always struggle with, but that was alright. It would be worth it. Frank squared his shoulders and looked up, right into the famous AK-green eyes of the great Harry Potter. “Lily will be ok, Uncle Harry. I've spent lots of time in the muggle world and I can manage the movies alright,” he assured the Head Auror. Lucius shifted and made a grumbling noise, glare intensifying. Frank swallowed, trying to ignore the ex-Death Eater. ‘Could this get any worse?’ he thought, then suddenly remembered that it was Narcissa who had looked Voldemort in the eye and lied to him. Frank eyed her warily, and she gave him a bland, ladylike smile that incongruously gave him chills. He looked back at Harry quickly, hoping it find comfort in the man he had known practically from birth, but met only a quiet, stern stare. He had grown up with the Potters, but apparently that didn't count for much when he had asked Lily Luna to the movies. 

Her brothers had already cornered him at different times and ‘had a word’. Scorpius, brash and blunt as always, had threatened to smash his face in if he hurt Lily Luna. James was next, all faux-casual camaraderie, the arm across Frank’s shoulder tightening threateningly as he told the younger boy how much he loved his baby sister and would hate to see her upset. Albus was different again, and spent a lot of time rambling about some plants Frank’s dad was helping him research. “The thing is, we're all so close,” Albus told him earnestly. “It would be terrible if things went wrong between you and Lily Luna, and caused bad blood amongst the family.” Frank cringed inside. Ravenclaws were the bloody worst because they were always right, of course. He could brush off the others easily enough; he wasn't his father's son for nothing, even if he had sorted Hufflepuff. He couldn't deny Al had a point though. Still, what did everyone think he would do, honestly? He'd known Lily Luna all his life and adored her just as long. They all knew it, except maybe Lily Luna herself, because she'd never seen anything else in his eyes but exactly that. 

Frank had been a pudgy, shy kid, struggling like they all had under the weight of their parents’ reputations. He wasn't clever like Al and Rose, nor charming like Jamie and Scor, nor sporty and fun like Hugo and his own sister, nor perfect like Lily Luna. Lily Luna, who floated through life with her fluffy blonde curls bouncing and her grey-green eyes laughing. He'd never thought she would ever really look at him, not really, not after they'd spent so many years together in the cheerful common room near the kitchens. She thought of him as a confidante and friend. When she went out with that Slytherin rotter, McClaggan, Frank had held his counsel. He hadn't told her brothers because she begged him not to, and he hadn't threatened his rival. He had remained her kind, dependable friend as always, and when McClaggan was inevitably caught in a cinch with Posy Zabini, Frank had held Lily Luna while she sobbed. Sure, he went out afterwards and plastered the Slytherin’s face across the quadrangle, but no one knew about that except the school nurse and his own dad, who had given him a month’s detention and a look of mingled pride and exasperation. “Just tell her,” said Neville. “Don't wait for a bloody war to break out before you say something!” Frank didn't know what that meant and privately thought it was alright for his old man, wasn't it, they only bloody called him The Sword of Gryffindor. He didn't know what it was like to be a boring, quiet bloke like Frank. After the war, probably the only problem his teenage dad had suffered was a shortage of buttons on female blouses when he passed by. Even now the way the girls (and some boys) sighed about ‘Professor Longbottom’ turned his stomach, and the snake-and-sword jokes from the boys (and some girls) were even worse. They always looked at Frank with mingled pity and hope too, as if expecting him to magically transform into a bit of alright overnight. 

Still once Frank’s month of weeding the greenhouses was over, Lily Luna seemed back to her usual cheerful self. So he had screwed up his courage and made a bumbling, stuttering mess of telling her he had always liked her, and would really like to take her out sometime, but of course he understood if she didn't think she would like that, and they would still be best friends like always, and of course she could have anyone so he understood, really… Lily Luna had mercifully stopped him at last with a sweet kiss, and pushed back his sandy hair with the ease of long friendship. She was a little pink, but smiled like his own personal sunbeam. “It won't be easy to date me, Frankie,” she murmured, curled into his shoulder. “My brothers, my fathers, Grand-pere and Grand-mere…” Frank smiled. “I've known them all my life, Lilu,” he’d said with rare confidence. “It'll be alright.” With his Lilu in his arms and the promise of more kisses to come, he felt like he could wield that sword just as well as any Gryffindor knob. 

Now he cursed himself for an idiot. What moron tried to date the daughter of the wizarding world's greatest hero and it's foremost potioneer? If Lilu ever got in a snit with him, Uncle Draco would see him dead before he got up from the tea table. Unless he went for a horrible disease or paralysis or something. Frank eyed his tea with new suspicion, and wished he had thought of that earlier. He surreptitiously twitched his limbs, checking if they were all still working. Uncle Harry was pretty old now, and Mr Malfoy was even older - he could probably outrun them if it came to that. It wouldn't matter anyway because probably Lilu wasn't coming. Probably she'd changed her mind. Probably this was all a huge mistake like Al said, and Frank had ruined everything...

At that very moment, Lily Luna sailed into the drawing room of Potter House. She was dressed in a pretty yellow summer frock Frank had never seen before, and her eyes shone with anticipation. Frank stopped twitching and worrying about poison at once. Whatever this ridiculous family did to him, it would be worth it to see her glowing like this. He leapt up to receive her kiss on his carefully shaved cheek, and narrowly avoided toppling the entire table. Narcissa was smiling widely as she surreptitiously sent a stabilising spell at the tea set, and also stood to exclaim over her granddaughter’s new dress. Everyone relaxed a little, as they always did when Lily Luna was around. Frank unfurled from a bumbling, twitching teenage lump into a strong young man before Narcissa’s very eyes. Yes, this one would do. The Longbottom name was as highly esteemed as the Potters, and if they didn't have the same galleons, well, the boy was hard working and cleverer than he looked if he had managed thus far. She met Draco’s eyes as he came through behind his daughter, and they nodded minutely to each other. The teen had stoically run the gauntlet after all, and survived the ex-Death Eater, the Head Auror, and the over-protective brothers from every House. Draco moved to brush imaginary lint from Frank’s jacket, and took a moment to make firm eye contact. Instead of the suspicion of Lucius and the sternness of Harry, Draco’s eyes were uncharacteristically soft and a little sad. “I know you'll look after my baby,” he murmured softly. “You're a good boy, Frank Longbottom.” Frank's astonishment must have shown, for Draco followed that statement with, “And don't forget I can brew ten undetectable poisons and dozens more that wouldn't be traced back to me. Do not mess up.” Frank grinned even as Lily Luna gasped, “Father! How could you!” and pulled him away indignantly. This was the caustic Uncle Draco he knew and loved. All of them, really. They were batshit crazy but he knew them and knew how to deal with them. He turned to his Lilu with new confidence, hope in his eyes and a spring in his step as he led her out. It would be alright.

**Author's Note:**

> The end! (maybe)


End file.
